WATCH: Polestar 1 high-speed testing

Volvo's fledgling premium brand has released a new video of the Polestar 1 sports coupe being tested to the limit ahead of its launch in the middle of 2019.

The video shows engineers testing late prototypes of the Polestar 1 at a private test facility in order to fine-tune the coupe's steering responses and torque vectoring.

The Polestar 1 is shown being driven hard on a high-speed banked track at speeds of up to 220km/h, as well as a tight and twisty handling track at speeds of around 130km/h and on long-sweeping bends.

“Whenever you drive Polestar 1, you should immediately feel like you are in control," says chief test driver, Joakim Rydholm, explaining that he wanted the hybrid coupe to be both easy to drive and comfortable in everyday use but also "thrilling" whenever the driver wants it.

Polestar has yet to confirm its top speed or 100km/h time, but the plug-in hybrid coupe, which combines a turbocharged and supercharged 2.0-litre engine with twin-electric motors and a large battery pack, produces a mighty 450kW and 1000Nm of torque.

That should easily be enough for a 0-100km/h time of around four seconds and a top speed approaching 300km/h.

Thanks to its powerful battery, after a full charge the Polestar 1 can cover 150km on pure-electric power alone between charges.

Polestar says it has almost completed work on its new manufacturing facility in Chengdu, China, with the first production-spec vehicles rolling off the line in early 2019, ahead of deliveries starting in around June.

When it does go on sale worldwide, the Polestar 1 won't be cheap.

Pricing for the Polestar 1 has now been confirmed as 1.45 million RMB ($A302,800) in China, €155,000 ($A245,000) in Europe and $155 000 ($A215,000) in the United States.

Sadly, the first offering from Volvo's premium sports/luxury brand, the Polestar 1, won't be produced in right-hand drive and therefore won't be sold in Australia.

However, its second model -- an all-electric compact crossover with 300kW of power and a 560km range, dubbed Polestar 2 -- is expected to be a global model.